The shed that ate the backyard in Mermaid Beach

I found Clear Out by searching on my phone while standing in the middle of the mess in Mermaid Beach. We bought an older place in the hinterland with a big steel shed out the back. The previous owner left it 'as is', which turned out to mean full.

There were coffee tins full of screws, three broken lawnmowers, car parts, sheets of tin, old timber, and a workbench that weighed more than my car.

Mermaid Beach is beachfront cottages, duplexes and knock-down-rebuild sites, and getting things out isn't always simple. Narrow lanes off the Gold Coast Highway need careful truck placement.

I sent a couple of photos and got a call back within the hour. They gave me a rough idea on the phone but said they'd confirm a fixed price when they saw it in person.

They parked so the back of the truck lined up with the side gate, put a drop sheet down at the door and asked me to show them anything that was staying.

There were a couple of old drums they wouldn't take because they couldn't tell what was in them. They told us exactly who to call for that. Fair enough, really.

By the time I'd made them a coffee, it was nearly finished. The price didn't change, and they even took a couple of extra bits I'd forgotten about without charging more.

I'd tried to do it myself twice before. Next time I'm just ringing straight away.